William Allis
Member
May be a week or 2 late but we are getting rain today. I am hoping for a 1/2 inch.
The attached picture shows a 1/2 acre plot in a recovered meadow. In the background you can see what the whole 5 acre meadow looked like 4 years ago. Overgrown with common buckthorn, honeysuckle, autumn olive, multiflowered rose and a few wild apple. We mowed close and ran our offset disk over it for 2 years and then started planting just winter rye. 2 years ago and this year we mowed close and ran the offset disk with the gangs nearly straight as soon as we could work the soil. Then we treated it with Ranger and 2,4d in early July. This year on Aug 23 we broadcast 56 # Rye, 25# oats, 6 #turnips and radish, 8# ladino and red clover per acre. Then ran the cultipacker over it twice. Next year we will spray, throw the same seed mix but increase the clover and cultipack or mow and cultipack. I think the thatch should hold moisture and, if we get rain, the seed should germinate. Our offset disk is a very heavy 8ft Hutchmaster "rolling plow" and we have set the gangs nearly straight, it might go into the ground 1/2 inch but it cuts and kicks out the old dead shrub roots.
The attached picture shows a 1/2 acre plot in a recovered meadow. In the background you can see what the whole 5 acre meadow looked like 4 years ago. Overgrown with common buckthorn, honeysuckle, autumn olive, multiflowered rose and a few wild apple. We mowed close and ran our offset disk over it for 2 years and then started planting just winter rye. 2 years ago and this year we mowed close and ran the offset disk with the gangs nearly straight as soon as we could work the soil. Then we treated it with Ranger and 2,4d in early July. This year on Aug 23 we broadcast 56 # Rye, 25# oats, 6 #turnips and radish, 8# ladino and red clover per acre. Then ran the cultipacker over it twice. Next year we will spray, throw the same seed mix but increase the clover and cultipack or mow and cultipack. I think the thatch should hold moisture and, if we get rain, the seed should germinate. Our offset disk is a very heavy 8ft Hutchmaster "rolling plow" and we have set the gangs nearly straight, it might go into the ground 1/2 inch but it cuts and kicks out the old dead shrub roots.
